`Tea-light` candles, used for decorative or votive lighting or as a source of heat for a chafing dish, are candles formed by introducing wax into either metal or flame-resistant plastic cups around a central wick. The typical tea-light candle burns for 4-6 hours in cups of 38 mm (1.5 in.) in diameter and 15 mm (5/8 in.) in height.
The cups, which retain the melted wax as the wick burns, are usually placed in non-flammable glass or ceramic candle holders that are well ventilated to allow heat conducted through the cup to dissipate by convection.
Plastic cups manufactured using injection molding techniques are a low cost alternative to metal cups for the tea-light candle, but plastic has an inherently lower ignition point than metal and conventional plastic cups have been known to ignite.
Plastic candle holders in the prior art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,699 entitled "PLASTIC CUP HOLDER FOR FLAMING CANDLE", are not directed to tea-light candles where the wax is in direct contact with the cup walls and the cup itself forms part of the candle. The plastic candle holder of the '699 patent is specifically designed to hold a standard wax candle away from the plastic wall and base of the candle holder.